The Birth of Moses

Moses was an unparalleled leader of the Israelite people. He was an outstanding military strategist, politician, lawmaker, and writer, as well as a prophet. The five books of Moses that he authored hold a significant place not only in the Old Testament but also in the New Testament. Moses’s name is mentioned 79 times in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus said, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

From the moment Moses was born, the shadow of death loomed over him. His people, who had lived a nomadic life, had settled in Egypt after a famine, when their ancestor Jacob brought his family to live with his son Joseph, who was then a prime minister in Egypt. For many years, the Israelites lived in stability and comfort. Unfortunately, this peace did not last, as the Bible records, “A new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.” This new Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites, forcing them into hard labor. He made them make bricks but refused to provide the straw (the more straw added to bricks, the lighter and easier they are to carry; bricks without straw are three times heavier and more prone to cracking).

The Egyptians believed that this would tire out the Hebrews so much that they would not have the energy to have children, and their population would decrease. However, the more they were oppressed, the more children the Hebrews had. Pharaoh then commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all male infants to control their population, but the midwives bravely defied the king’s order, and the Israelites continued to multiply. Finally, Pharaoh had no choice but to issue a third decree, ordering all male Israelite babies to be thrown into the Nile River to be eaten by crocodiles. The Nile, the source of life for the Egyptians, had now become a place of death for Hebrew slaves.

At that time, a couple from the tribe of Levi had a son. Seeing that he was a beautiful baby, they risked their lives to hide him. After three months, they could no longer conceal him. With no other choice, the parents decided to put the baby in a basket made of papyrus reeds, sealed with tar and pitch, and placed it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. This would both hide the child and prevent the basket from being swept away by the current. Moses’s mother did everything she could to protect her son’s life, and then she entrusted him to God. Trusting in God does not mean doing nothing; it means being a co-worker with God, doing your part, and leaving the rest to Him. “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12).

Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river to bathe and discovered the basket in the reeds. The princess took pity on the child and decided to adopt him. She named him Moses, which means, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

These many “coincidences” were all part of God’s hand at work. Thus, Moses grew up in the Egyptian court, receiving the best education of the time as a prince, which prepared him for his future role in leading the Israelites out of Egypt and authoring the five books of Moses.

(Compiled and edited based on the Chinese Union Version and a comprehensive biblical interpretation.)